Eternal Things
by TheCivilState
Summary: They're just Klaus and Caroline and they have eternity to figure out what that means.


_Watch the city lights as they shine_

Overhead, fireworks were exploding as Mystic Falls celebrated some monumental anniversary that was related to how long the town had been around. It seemed irrelevant to Caroline, who was going to outlive the town and the world, even, if she managed to keep her heart in her chest and her head on her shoulders. But to think she would witness celebrations like this all over the world in different towns, different countries, different cities where people didn't know her and she could be whoever she wanted. She hadn't thought like that until Klaus had told her there was a whole world out there just waiting to meet her. She wished someone had told her that sooner, before things got complicated and before she was tied down with commitment and responsibility. She wished she'd known that from the very beginning. Maybe she'd of run.

"I don't understand why this town is celebrating such an insignificant age." She turned both to acknowledge him, just stood still until he came to stand beside her, the sleeve of his jacket brushing against her arm.

"They're human," she said, "It's what they do."

"But not you?" His eyes were blue and lit up with the reflection of the fireworks and they were timing their conversation around the explosions. It was pointless, really, but Caroline couldn't focus on much when there were fireworks.

"I've seen better fireworks," he said and she didn't doubt him, "Venice during Carnival is quite the sight, but nothing holds a candle to China." She wanted to imagine what it was like, but found she had nothing to draw from. _One day_, she promised herself, _one day you'll go and see the Chinese fireworks for yourself._

"What are they like in Paris?" she asked, because Paris was on the top of her list of places to see. To visit. To live in. After all, she had nothing but time now, so she might as well figure out where to live once people in Mystic Falls started to notice she wasn't aging. It was a sad thought, the thought of leaving, but if she played her cards right and managed to live long enough, she could very well live in many cities all throughout France before moving onto another country. She'd savor every moment and not rush anything. She was a vampire now and she was starting to learn that meant having all the time in the world.

"Beautiful," Klaus said and when she looked away from the fireworks to look at him- _a different kind of firework- _she thought for a moment he was talking about her and not some firework show in a city he'd no doubt a million times. But there was no way small town Caroline Forbes could top a place like Paris. Things didn't work like that in reality and reality was where she unfortunately lived.

_I'll give you anything you want_

"Caroline?" Klaus was surprised to find her so far out in the woods, especially by herself. And she was just standing there, a predatory statue, staring at the stars.

"Have they changed much?" she asked and lifted a hand to point to the heavens. He didn't need to look to know the placement of the stars above his head. And even if he hadn't had the constellations memorized, he'd hardly bother looking at them when she was standing before him.

"A few have come and gone," he said, "But they're almost as eternal as us."

"Eternal as you," she countered, eyes never leaving the sky, "You're the hybrid who can't be killed. Someone just needs to rip out my heart or stake me and I'm done."

"I won't let anyone hurt you." It's then that she looks away from the sky, gaze shifting from one eternal thing to another. He's being honest and she can tell by the way his eyes look and she couldn't explain it to anyone, but she knows. She just knows.

"You won't always be around," she says because it's true. He won't always have a reason to be in Mystic Falls and it'll probably take her a few decades to finally get as far as New York. And then she'll spend a hundred years there and he'll have forgotten her by then.

"I thought you said I was eternal." She doesn't have a respond for that so she goes back to looking at the stars, gaze shifting from one eternal thing to another.

His eyes stay on her. Another eternal thing.

_I've got nothing left but you tonight_

They walk through the forest, leaves crunching beneath their feet, and Caroline wonders how much longer he'll be in Mystic Falls. Despite what he says, she'll know he'll one day leave and that'll be the end of it and she'll never see him again. He'll be off with his family and his hybrids and he'll be far too busy to ever wonder about small-town Caroline Forbes who'd never been anywhere. And because they're vampires and that made them all the more aware of time, she wonders if she should really just call it quits and always spend her life wondering, 'what if?' Or should she be the beautiful, strong, full of light person he thought she was?

She turns towards him and he stops because he knows what she's thinking and what she wants the same way she knows when he's lying. And they don't really know how they know, but they do and that's really the only thing that matters in the moment when they're vampires and they have forever to figure things out.

She's breathing even though she doesn't need to because he's standing closer than usual and it's like gravity is trying to smother her or something. And she would know what being smothered feels like and the memory almost makes her want to cry. He notices, the way he always does, and drops a hand to the side of her face as she stares at their feet that are crushing leaves as dead as them, but the difference is that they'll be here long after the leaves are gone.

"I wish things had been different," she says because it's the truth and he's always loved her honesty and they're the only ones here at the moment and the leaves will take her secrets to the grave.

"I don't." She looks at him because it's the only thing she can do and she sees what he's not telling her the same way he knows what she wants. They don't know how they know, but they do, and that's all that matters because he knows she wants exactly what he wants and she knows he wouldn't change a damn thing about their lives because it's what's brought them to this forest at night with leaves as dead as them but not nearly as eternal.

"Take me home," she says and he complies because they're eternal and they have time to figure everything out.

_I could set your soul on fire_

She's standing in the shower after her reunion with Tyler. Tyler, who is going to live forever, but doesn't seem to understand what that means. It was a sweet and rough reunion and he'd been called away by his mother who insisted her baby boy come home and sleep in his own bed for once. With all the roughness and the sweetness and the Carol Lockwood interruptions, he hadn't noticed he'd nipped her just a little too hard, but he had and now she stood in her bathroom with a towel wrapped around her as she stared at the festering bite that was spreading across her chest.

Maybe this time she'd just die and she wouldn't have to worry about things like eternity and people dying and figuring things out. Maybe she could just die like she was supposed to, a beautiful seventeen year old beauty queen who was always being picked last and was never good enough. But Klaus was there because he knew what she was thinking even if she didn't and they didn't really care how it all worked because they had forever to figure it out.

"That boyfriend of your's should be more careful," he half-heartedly scolds because it's difficult to smirk when she's standing there in a towel with her hair hanging down her back in damp strands as a festering wound mars the flesh above her heart. She watches in the mirror as his fingers trace the edge of the wound, but she's not really paying attention to the bite or his fingers, staring at his eyes instead as they grow solemn and so very, very tired. That's when it dawns on her just how old he truly is and she wonders if she'll ever be that old. And if she ever makes it to her thousandth birthday, will he be there to celebrate it?

"Would your bite do this to me?" she asks because it seems to be an important thing to ask, even though it's pointless. If he did bite her and this festering wound of death followed, he could either cure her or leave her to die. Simple as that. There was really no reason for her to ask, but she had to ask something and that was the safest question she had on reserve.

"No," he says and proves his point by nipping at her shoulder. Nothing happens other than Caroline's stomach does a flip and if her heart still beat it probably would have short circuited and stopped. He holds his wrist in front of her mouth like he did the last time this happened, but she turns to face him and stares and he knows what she's thinking the same as she knows when he's lying.

"You'll die," he states the obvious despite the fact she already knows that because it is painfully obvious.

"I don't want to be old and tired," she says because she always wants to be young and happy, "And I don't want to be alone on my thousandth birthday and I don't want people to forget about neurotic Caroline who had a dad who hated what she was. I don't want to be alone."

She rests her head against her chest and he allows her, arms wrapping around her waist. He's warm and has a heartbeat and she likes the fact she can hear that he's alive and she likes the way his warmth seeps into her and if he really was the bad guy, he shouldn't be warm like this. He shouldn't be trying to save her and offering to take her places and he shouldn't be rubbing circles into her back as she rests her head in the crook of his neck. So maybe he's not the bad guy. Maybe he's just another guy, same as all the others, who is only trying to do what he can for his family. Maybe he's just like her and doesn't want to be celebrating his birthday alone for the rest of eternity.

Eventually, she bites his neck and drinks and is healed. They don't talk about it and she doesn't even bother thanking him. He knows what she's thinking the same as she knows when he's lying and he's not lying when his eyes say he's thankful she decided to live.

But they don't think about that because they're eternal and there's time to figure these things out.

_Don't leave me now_

"Don't go." She shouldn't be in his house, let alone his private study watching him from the doorway as he sketches. But she couldn't sleep and she had just drank his blood that night and it was like he'd tied a string to her gut and was slowly reeling her in. Part of her minded being bated like a fish, but the other part couldn't give a damn. That was the part that was watching him sketching in a white shirt with charcoal smeared on his fingers. And because he asked her not to go, which was the same as asking her to stay and inviting her in, she sits beside him on the couch and leans her head against her shoulder so she can see what he's sketching.

It's her. Staring up at stars and fireworks and heaven and pondering the mysteries of the universe. It's just her and she's beautiful and she wonders if she lives long enough, will she start to see herself the way he does?

"I like it," she says and he smiles because that's the compliment he's been waiting for and she knows it, just like she knows a lot of things about him, things they never talk about because they're vampires and they procrastinate because they have all the time in the world to figure things out. But she's tired now and doesn't want to talk and figure things out, so she stands and heads back to the door.

"I'm going home and going to bed," she tells him, even though it's useless because he's always known what she's thinking and she doesn't care because she doesn't mind. It just mean she doesn't have to talk as much and if she's ever in trouble, she'll just scream for him inside her head and he'll come and rescue her with warm hands and blue eyes and smile that makes her heart light up and her head spin.

"I'll walk you to the door." He's a gentleman and it wouldn't take forever to figure that out.

_You're everything_

"You said you have a painting in an art museum somewhere," she says because se doesn't remember the painting or the museum or where in the world it's located. All she knows is that Klaus has a painting out in the world somewhere and she's going to see it one day and she'd really like to know it's his when she's looking at it. All she knows is that he'll need to be there to point it out for her.

"Could you take me there sometime?" she asks because they're eternal and they don't need to set dates and sometime is perfectly acceptable, "I'd really like to see it." He smiles because that's the compliment he's been waiting for as well as her acceptance to a trip with him. It's what he's always wanted to hear and she can tell by the way his eyes sparkle like fireworks and his mouth crooks up into a smile and she's still tired, but not tired enough that she doesn't recognize an opportunity when she sees one.

So because she's a vampire who has nothing but time, but is a neurotic control-freak who believes in seizing the moment, she steps into his space and smiles at him, her fingers coming to trace his smile because she's always been curious as to how he makes his smile curve so perfectly. She wonders if he'll teach her.

Her lips are hovering close to his because she's thinking of tracing the curve of his mouth with her own and wonders if that would be appropriate. But because she's a vampire and they have nothing but time, she figures they both can forget if it is inappropriate and she's wrong and he's evil and everything in life is just as awful as she thinks it is sometime.

But then he's stroking her hair and pressing his lips to hers and she thinks she's dreaming for a moment because his lips are just ghosting over hers and yet he's sucking all the breath out of her. So she threads her fingers through his hair and memorizes just how curly it is as she pulls his head closer and puts some force behind their kiss. His hands are on her hips holding her steady because she wants to faint because he's smiling and she's smiling and they're kissing each other like they aren't neurotic Caroline and sadistic Klaus. Like they're not Vampire Barbie and the Big Bad Original Hybrid.

His hands are wrapped around her back and he's pulling her close and she's thankful they don't have to breathe because she doesn't even want to let go and neither does he and she can tell that with her eyes closed. And she's smiling and biting his lower lip and he's kissing the side of her mouth as they both laugh because they're not an eighteen year old girl and a man as old as time.

They're just Klaus and Caroline and they have eternity to figure out what that means.

_Just give me every part of you_

_[song fic inspired by "Eyes of Grace" by Enation_


End file.
